Landmark event: Launch of IPCC AR 5 in Kautokeino

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report today that says the effects of climate change are already occurring on all continents and across the oceans. The world, in many cases, is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate. The report also concludes that there are opportunities to respond to such risks, though the risks will be difficult to manage with high levels of warming. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) will provide a clear view of the current state of scientific knowledge relevant to climate change. It will comprise three Working Group (WG) reports and a Synthesis Report (SYR). The outline and content can be found in theAR5 reference document and SYR Scoping document.

IPCC has been endeavouring to engage smaller communities in their work and its dissemination and as a result are holding a launch event for the IPCC 5th Assessment, Working Group II, Polar Regions Chapter in Kautokeino, organized by ICR which runs today, March 31, 2014.

The programme includes an exciting breadth of speakers and expertise. Prof. Chris Field, Stanford University, Co-Lead of IPCC AR5 WG 2 will join the meeting by video and participants in Kautokeino will include reindeer herders and administrators from across multiple reindeer herding regions in Russia and Scandinavia as well as representative of youth. Field stated in the IPCC 5AR Press Press Release,

“Climate-change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms,and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation,” Field said. “This experience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important as climate and society continue to change.”

The event runs all day and wraps with a visit to a herders camp. Download the programme here.